


Dinner

by NarryMusings



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2016-12-04
Packaged: 2018-09-06 09:42:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8745277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NarryMusings/pseuds/NarryMusings
Summary: Harry needs to bring a date to his family’s Christmas Eve dinner, so he asks his neighbor, Niall, to accompany him.





	

There’s a wreath on the front door. It’s all artificial greenery, and red bows, and white snowflakes, and silver bells.

And it’s the one thing Harry focuses on as he raises a shaky hand to rap his knuckles against the door. The wreath.

There’s music playing on the other side of the wall. When Harry first moved into the building a few months ago, he’d been under the impression that the lad across the hall from him threw parties fairly regularly – only to find out, through the grapevine, that the bloke, _Niall Horan from Ireland_ (according to the a girl who lives down the hall), just _really_ likes music and that, more often than not, he was just home alone. Harry had, admittedly, been a little bit annoyed at first at how loud, and how often, _Niall Horan from Ireland_ had played his music, but nobody else seemed to have any complaints about him and Harry hadn’t wanted to seem like some sort of prude, or something, so he kept his mouth shut. Now, months later, it’s sort of become a comfort – and Harry doesn’t mind it so much.

Not to mention the fact that _Niall Horan from Ireland_ is incredibly fit, and Harry’s not about pissing of a beautiful Irishman.

The door swings open, suddenly, and Harry immediately forgets why he’s here. He doesn’t have a damn clue why he’s standing in front of Niall – who’s all short, dark hair apart from the blond tips at the top of his floppy fringe, and stubble all along his jaw. His cheeks are flushed, and his eyes are really blue, and he’s wearing this awful, patterned Christmas jumper, and-

“Hi.”

Niall’s voice grinds Harry’s thoughts to a halt. He blinks, clears his throat, and then- “Uh, hi,” he breathes.

A cheer erupts within the flat, and only then does Harry realize that they aren’t alone. Or, at least, Niall isn’t alone. He can’t see Niall’s guests, because the living room is around the corner, but he can hear them talking in the background.

“Oh, I didn’t- I didn’t know you had company,” Harry murmurs.

Niall smiles softly, shrugs his shoulders. “Just a few friends.”

“Right, then I’ll just – I’ll just go, then-“

“No,” Niall says quickly. “They’re just playing video games, it’s fine. What’s up?”

Harry blinks, licks his lips and swallows hard around the lump in his throat. “I, um- I was wondering if I could ask you for a favour, if you’re not busy tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow is Christmas Eve,” Niall notes, leaning one shoulder against the doorframe.

Harry nods. He knows that it isn’t ideal. He knows that it’s last minute.

“However, I’m not busy. So what’s your favour?”

The brunet takes a deep breath, runs a hand through his hair. It’s moments like this that he really misses his longer locks; misses the comfort and security of it. “So, here’s the thing,” he starts, shoving both hands into the front pockets of his skinny jeans. He needs to do something with them before he goes stir crazy. “A few weeks ago, I confirmed with my mum that I would be bringing my boyfriend to her Christmas dinner party – only, I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“Oh…”

“Right- Because the thing is- She’s been after me for months to start dating again after my last girlfriend cheated on me, and I just don’t really know anybody I fancy enough to actually ask out on a date, right? But when she asked me if I was bringing anybody to the dinner, I sort of panicked and said that I was bringing my new boyfriend. And, I mean, I did ask this friend of mine, but he’s busy with his own family stuff that night, and if I don’t bring a date at all then my mum is going to try and hook me up with the girl that lives next door and I just-“ Harry cuts himself, lets out a long breath before dragging one back in – and only then does he realize that he hasn’t take a breath since he started talking. “I just didn’t want to go alone,” he finishes.

Niall tilts his head, eyes shining with curiosity. “What’s wrong with the girl next door, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“She’s annoying. And clingy. And not my type, like, at all.”

Niall hums, looking thoughtful. Another cheer erupts from within the living room, and it startles both of them before Niall rolls his eyes and pulls the door towards him by the knob, as though that’s going to drown out the background noise. “Why me?”

Harry shrugs, smiles sheepishly. “I see you around sometimes and everyone always has good things to say about you. You’re just – the first person I thought of at the last minute.”

“Am I your type?”

Harry’s breath gets caught in his throat, which is good considering it’s the only stopping him from blurting out the truth. “I’d have to get to know you first, I think.”

Niall smirks, but says nothing. He looks deep in thought, like he’s seriously contemplating Harry’s favour – but also holding back on his proposition.

And suddenly Harry feels awkward – because who does this, anyway? Who asks a complete stranger – even if he is beautiful, _and_ his neighbor – to be his date to a family gathering? Crazy people, that’s who. “You know what? Never mind,” he murmurs, shaking his head. “This was a terrible idea and I don’t know what I was thinking.”

Niall blinks, confusion written all over his face.

“It’s just- I’ll just go by myself. It’s probably better that way anyway.”

“What will you tell your mum?”

Harry shrugs. “I’ll say that we broke up, or something. It’s fine,” he says, walking back towards his own front door across the corridor. “Have a good Christmas.” He whirls around, then, before Niall can respond, and hurries back into his flat as he throws the door shut.

He falls back with a light thump against the door, lets the back of his head rest back against as he looks up at the ceiling. And then he sighs because, well, that literally couldn’t have gone any worse.

In fact, the only thing worse than how that went is the fact that he has to go to dinner alone tomorrow.

X

He’s mid batch of sugar cookies, and half a bottle of wine down when there’s a knock on his door. He pops the cookie sheet into the oven, closes the door, and then heads towards the front door, wine glass in hand. There’s Christmas music playing through a pair of speakers in the living room as he walks through it.

He doesn’t know who he was expecting – maybe Perrie, or perhaps Louis has managed to sneak his way into the building again. Regardless, he definitely wasn’t expecting to open the door to find Niall standing on the other side. He blinks, taken aback and confused, as Niall smiles at him. “Um, hi,” he breathes.

“Hi-“

“Oi, Nialler!” someone shouts from somewhere down the hall. Harry only realizes that it’s coming from where the lift is located when Niall turns to look at his group of friends. All of his friends are smirking, but it’s the tall, broad one that speaks again- “Behave yourself.”

Niall rolls his eyes. “Go away.”

The lift door opens, then, and Niall’s friends disappear inside it.

“So,” Niall starts, smiling softly. There’s a pink glow across his cheeks, which Harry attributes to the beer he’d only vaguely noticed him holding earlier. “So I’ve been thinking, and I’ll do it.”

Harry blinks. “Do what?”

“Your favour. I’ll be your fake boyfriend.”

And, well- Harry suddenly feels like his heart is going to beat out of his chest. There’s a lump in his throat that makes it difficult to swallow, and a tightness in his chest that makes it hard to breathe and-

“I mean, if the offer – the favour – still stands,” Niall murmurs.

“No, yes, it- It still stands,” Harry stutters.

Niall grins. “Great. I mean- Cool.”

Silence falls between them, and Harry finds himself staring. At Niall’s blue, blue eyes, at the little dimple at the very top of his cheek, at his pretty, pink lips- He’s beautiful, is what he is.

“Should we talk about things?” Niall asks, shoving both hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “Like- When we’re leaving, where we’re going, how we’re going to tell your mother that we met – that sort of thing.”

Harry curses himself inwardly for not thinking about that ahead of time, because had Niall not mentioned it then it never would have crossed his mind. “Right, yeah, we should do that. Come in.” He steps aside, then, to let Niall slip by him; tries not to think too much about Niall’s woodsy cologne.

“Smells good in here,” Niall tells him.

“I’m making sugar cookies to bring tomorrow,” Harry says, closing the door behind Niall. “They’re my mum’s favourite.”

Niall smirks. “Mine too.”

Harry leads Niall into the kitchen, remembers to check the timer he’d put on his phone – there’s only two minutes left – and then turns to face his blond neighbour once more. “Do you want something to drink? Beer, water…milk?”

“A beer, please. Thanks.”

The brunet opens the fridge to get a bottle of Stella out. “By the way, I don’t always drink alone,” he says, unscrewing the cap off before handing it to Niall. “I just figured a little bit of liquid courage would help me tell mum that I wouldn’t be bringing a boyfriend tomorrow.”

Niall smiles, cocks his head and raises the bottle to his lips. “Well, now you don’t have to tell her. And you’re no longer drinking alone.”

Harry smiles back.

“So, when did you want to leave tomorrow?”

“I’d been thinking around 11,” Harry replies. “It’ll take a few hours to get to Cheshire from here, so we’ll be there a couple of hours before dinner. And- I usually stay the night and then spend Christmas Day, but we can drive back at, like, 10 or so to have you back to spend Christmas with your family.”

“That actually works out well,” Niall says. “Me folks are coming down late tomorrow night and they’ll be staying with Greg – my brother – just on the outskirts. Usually the whole family – grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins – get together back home in Ireland, but a lot of the family couldn’t make it, so- Separate Christmases it is this year.”

“And you’re sure you want to do this? You don’t want to spend time with your brother?”

Niall shrugs. “I saw him yesterday. Besides, it’s not every day I get to pretend to be somebody’s boyfriend. Sounds exciting.”

Harry smirks. “It could also be incredibly disastrous.”

“Only if we let it. And I like to think that I’m an alright actor. Plus- I’m great with parents.”

“Think I’m more worried about myself, if I’m honest,” Harry admits.

“Are you a bad actor?”

Harry shakes his head. “It’s just that 75 per cent of the time, my mother can see right through me. And if not her, then my sister.”

“Then I guess we better make it really believable,” Niall hums. “If worse comes to worse and we have to prove it, then I’m a really good kisser.”

And- Shit. Harry’s gaze falls to land on Niall’s lips – on the smooth lines of his cupid’s bow, and the shine glistening from whatever chapstick he must be wearing, and- He thinks he’d like to kiss Niall now.

“But first we should probably come up with a buyable story for how we met and stuff.”

“Yeah,” Harry murmurs, lifting his glass to his lips. He takes a sip, if for no other reason than to distract his own mouth. “Yeah, we should do that.”

X

The drive goes by rather quickly and effortlessly due to the fact that Niall doesn’t stop talking. Harry’s always known him to be bright and beautiful, has always known that he’s friendly and outgoing – but he’s never realized just much Niall talks and, well, he kind of wants to listen to Niall talk for the rest of his life, if he’s being honest. It helps, too, that they actually seem to have a lot in common – the most important thing being their tastes in music, which Harry had sort of had an idea of given the music he’d overhear through the walls in their building.

The drive is easy, which makes Harry think that perhaps this dinner is going to be easier than he originally thought it would be.

X

Harry’s terrified. His heart feels like it’s in his throat and his stomach feels like it’s going to fall out of his arse, and he’s so fucking nervous that he can’t even see straight. Part of him wants to just turn back around and pretend like nothing has happened; take Niall home, show up late for dinner, and make up some excuse as to why his ‘date’ couldn’t make it (maybe even tie the reason into why he’s late). A different part of him wants to admit everything and just introduce Niall as his neighbour who was kind enough to go along with Harry’s idiotic plan because he’s just that… _nice_.

He swallows hard around a lump in his throat as he reaches a shaky hand out to the knob on the large front door. And then suddenly there’s a hand within his own, and it takes a moment for Harry to register that it belongs to Niall.

Niall, who smiles at him when he looks over his shoulder. Niall, who squeezes his fingers around Harry’s hand. Niall, who is now acting as an anchor for Harry; the only thing keeping Harry from running.

“Harry?” his mother calls out, from within the kitchen around the corner.

“Mum?” Harry calls back cheekily, despite how nervous he feels.

And then she’s there – all red dress, dark hair pinned up, and bright, beautiful smile. She squeals in delight as she walks into Harry’s arms and holds him tight. “Oh, my boy! How I’ve missed you, baby.”

Harry smirks, chin tucked into her shoulder. “Are you _trying_ to embarrass me?”

“Just tell me you’ve missed me too.”

“I’ve missed you too, mum” Harry murmurs.

She pulls back, then, and squishes a kiss into his cheek before her gaze settles over his shoulder. “You must be his boy,” she murmurs as she lets Harry go. “He never did tell me your name though, love.”

“Niall Horan, ma’am,” the blond says, introducing himself politely. He holds his hand out in front of him. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

“Oh, please,” his mother scoffs. She takes Niall’s hand and then promptly pulls him in for a hug. “We hug in this family. We also call each other by our first names, so you can call me Anne.”

“Very well,” Niall giggles. He returns her hug graciously, tosses a look and a wink over her shoulder in Harry’s direction. Harry rolls his eyes.

“Now,” Anne starts, pulling away from Niall too, “I absolutely cannot wait to get to know more things about you, Niall, because like I said, Harry hasn’t told me much of anything. But first I have some last minute preparations to do before everybody else arrives. Feel free to grab yourself a drink, Niall, and make yourself at home.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Niall asks.

Anne smiles, looks back over her shoulder to where Harry is standing and watching it all unfold, his heart lodged into his throat. “I like him, Harry. Keep him.”

Harry smirks – and then smiles as Anne drags Niall into the kitchen by the sleeve of his red jumper. He wonders if, perhaps, he’s got any chance at all to do just that after it’s all said and done; keep him.

X

Everybody loves Niall.

Like, literally- Everybody Harry knows _loves_ Niall. His step-father, his sister, his aunts and uncles and cousins, his old friends, 89 year-old Mrs. Walsh who lives up the street and her two grandchildren – even Amber, the girl next door who has liked him for years, likes Niall.

Niall is sweet, and charming. He talks to everyone, and he’s incredibly friendly.

He also puts on a really good show in terms of pretending to be Harry’s boyfriend. He holds Harry’s hand, and brushes his fingers through Harry’s hair, and calls Harry ‘babe’. He’s really good about it; so good that Harry, himself, almost believes it, even as he plays along.

X

“So, how did you two meet?”

Six words. It’s only a six word question, and yet it’s got Harry’s stomach twisted up in knots and his heart lodged up in his throat. He’d known it would come, could tell that it was the one thing on everyone’s mind. He knew he was going to have to answer it eventually, and yet here is feeling incredibly unprepared.

He blinks, swallows hard around the lump in his throat as he glances around the dining room table. All eyes are on him, despite all the food gathered up the train in the middle of the table. “U-Um,” he stutters, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves.

He can’t do this. He can’t lie to his family. He can’t make Niall continue to lie for him-

“I don’t know about the first time he saw me,” Niall starts, suddenly. He’s smiling rather fondly when Harry looks at him, and then suddenly his hand is over Harry’s beneath the table like a silent, ‘I’ve got this’. “But I remember the first time I saw him.

“He had his arms full of grocery bags, and his beanie was falling down over his eyes, and it looked like his legs couldn’t tell which way they were supposed to be going. I remember watching him struggle with the door to our building and thinking that he was absolutely stunning. If I hadn’t been so completely dumbfounded by him, I would have stepped in to help. Instead, our neighbour Perrie opened the door for him and helped him inside – and even though it was completely my fault, I remember being so jealous of her. A few weeks later, he knocked at my door and…here we are.”

Harry stares at him. Can’t stop staring at him. Never wants to stop staring at him. He remembers that day pretty vividly, if he’s honest. He remembers struggling with all those bags, remembers seeing Niall on his phone near the lift before Perrie has promptly stepped forward to help through the door. They’d all ridden the lift together, but Niall hadn’t said a word to him. Harry hadn’t thought much of it, at the time; he’d only briefly wondered if perhaps he was having a bad day – but now it seems that Niall had just been...dumbfounded, should he be telling the truth.

“What about you, Harry?” Gemma asks. She’s sitting across the table from him, smiling. “Do you remember the first time you saw Niall?”

“I saw him in a coffee shop about a week before he saw me,” Harry replies. He smiles softly as Niall looks at him. “He wasn’t doing anything – just reading a newspaper and eating a chocolate chip muffin – and I remember thinking he was beautiful. Then he got a phone call, and he smiled for whoever it was and I thought, ‘Wow, he smiles like he swallowed the sun.’ And then he left.”

“You two are adorable,” Anne coos. “However, now that everyone has their plates full, let’s say grace.”

Niall’s hand slides away from Harry’s, then, and Harry finds himself missing the warmth of his calloused fingers rather suddenly. Everyone clasps their hands together in from of themselves, and Harry follows suit before closing his eyes. His mother is the one to speak, and Harry lets her voice flood his mind; lets it drown out the mantra of NiallNiallNiall-ThisIsAllFake-Niall-

Chatter falls upon the table as soon as everyone digs in. Harry’s cousin, Matty, tells everyone about his new band. His Aunt Sally tells the table that she just got a new job. His grandmother informs the family that she’ll be going on year-long cruise starting in January with her new boyfriend. Everyone has a story, and everyone tells it, and everyone listens.

And, finally, having all of these people in the same room again feels in Christmas.

It’s when Robin brings out the dessert platters – pumpkin pie, cherry cheesecake, double chocolate chip brownies, and Harry’s shortbread cookies – that the conversation comes back around full circle with a question from his mother. “What do you do, Niall?”

And, well, shit. That’s another thing that Harry didn’t – wasn’t able to – tell his mother, mostly because he wasn’t entirely sure what Niall does for a living. And, suddenly, all eyes are on Niall once more.

“I’m a vet technician,” Niall says. Every female – single and married, Anne and Gemma included – coos, and not even Harry can blame them. “That’s pretty much the usual reaction, yes.”

Harry turns towards Niall once everyone has finished their dessert and have begun to migrate away from the dining room table. He places his hand on Niall’s thigh and leans in close to him. “Sorry dinner felt like an interrogation,” he murmurs.

Niall shrugs, smiles gently at Harry and places his own hand over Harry’s. “I figured it probably would,” he admits. “And it’s fine. It’s more than fine.”

“Still, it’s embarrassing.”

“It’s family,” Niall smiles.

X

“He’s great.”

Harry looks sideways, in the direction of his sister’s voice, to find Gemma standing next to him in the doorway. He follows Gemma’s gaze, then, back to where Niall is currently taking part in a snowball fight with the kids in the backyard. “Yeah, he is.”

“Much better than that other guy were dating,” Gemma hums, crossing her arms over her chest. “What was name? Kevin?”

Harry snorts. “Xander.”

“Right. And don’t even get me started on Caroline-“

“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” Harry mutters, rolling his eyes. “I’m not always the best judge in character.”

Gemma shrugs. “You did good with him, though,” she whispers, jutting her chin out in Niall’s general direction. “He’s really sweet, very charming, and incredibly easy on the eyes. He also seems to make you really happy, so- You need to keep him.”

Harry smirks. “Mum said the exact same thing.”

“Well, she usually tends to be right.”

He’s about to respond when suddenly his face feels cold. It takes him a minute to recognize the wet, chilly feeling of snow – and a few seconds longer to realize that it was Niall who threw the snowball at him. Niall, who looks at Harry with a mixture of triumph and mischief in his wonderfully blue eyes. The kids all look shocked and excited. He blinks, taken aback. “Did you just-“

“What are you gonna do about it?” Niall challenges.

Harry bends down, gathers a handful of snow between his palms.

“I’m going inside now,” Gemma says, twirling on one heel-

“No you’re not,” Harry responds. He reaches out with his free hand to grab hold of her elbow. “You’re on my team.”

Niall grins, before gathering his own snowball. And then he winks, and Harry’s heart gives a lurch and a skip and a jump.

And he knows that this is going to end soon, knows that this isn’t permanent, knows that everything will change when they back to London – but he’s allowed to take advantage of it for now, right?

X

“So, did you mean what you said before?” Harry finds himself asking suddenly.

They’re on the road back to London only a couple of hours later. The drive has been relatively silent, save for the Christmas carols flowing through the speakers. Niall is tired, if his yawns are anything to go by, and Harry has stifled a couple of his own as well. It’s been a long day, after all.

Niall rolls the back of his head along the seat as he looks sideways at him. “I mean, yes, but- Which part specifically.”

“The part about how you first saw me.” He’s curious, is the thing. More than a little bit, in fact. Because he knows that Niall was putting on a show today, but he wants to know exactly how much of it was…real. It’s selfish, probably, but-

“That was true,” Niall confirms. “I’ve always thought you were fit, if I’m being honest.”

“Oh,” Harry breathes. “Me too. I mean, not- I don’t think I’m fit, or anything, just that- I mean, I think-“

“Thank you,” Niall murmurs. A smirks stretches itself across his lips as he turns to look ahead.

And, well- That solves that, then, Harry supposes.

X

The rest of the drive is just as relatively silent as it began, and the ride up the lift is no different. In fact, it’s sort of awkward, despite having spent the majority of the entire day together. Today had been a success. His family – and friends – bought everything. All that’s left now, Harry supposes, if to thank Niall for his…service.

“So, um,” Harry says, pausing to clear his throat of the lump that has been there since they left his family home. “Thank you for coming with me today. I’m actually a little surprised by how well it went.”

“You’re welcome,” Niall replies softly. “Thank you for bringing me. I actually had a lot of fun.”

Harry smiles.

“You have great people around you, Harry.”

“Thank you.”

Silence falls over them again as they both stop in the middle of the hallway, directly between their respective front doors. Harry runs a hand through his hair, whilst Niall shoves both hands into the front pockets of his jeans.

“So, I guess I’ll just – wait a few weeks, and then I’ll tell my mum that we broke up,” Harry says. “I’ll say it was a mutual decision, and-“

“Or,” Niall interjects. Harry’s heart skips several, hopeful beats. “We could go on a date some time. Then we wouldn’t have to…break up. Wouldn’t have to disappoint your poor mother.”

Harry draws in a breath. “You don’t have to do that, Niall. I-“

“I want to,” Niall whispers, taking a step towards him. “I meant what I said before, remember?”

Harry blinks in response, too…dumbfounded to find actual words.

“Do you want to know the real reason I agreed to come with you today?”

Harry finds himself nodding.

“I wanted to spend time with you,” Niall admits softly. “I’d been trying to think of something to say to you for weeks – wanted more than anything to get to know you and… And I thought maybe getting to you know you more would give me the courage to eventually ask you out. So- This is me asking you out, Harry. What do you say?”

The butterflies come to life in Harry’s stomach as he smiles.


End file.
